It was undoubtedly enough of a start to the season to see Mercedes again. In fact, there are still many question marks on the W13 which continues not to satisfy the drivers, who appear clearly in difficulty. Although the results, at car level, are not excellent, Mercedes are second in the constructors and in the same position in the drivers' standings thanks to George Russell.
Updates in sight?
However, this does not mean that Brackley shouldn't work, on the contrary. The goal of the German team, reigning constructor champion, is to try to keep up with the competition, also in terms of updates for Imola, as explained by team strategist James Vowles: “We are working on both the power unit and the chassis to increase our performance – he has declared - I suspect our competitors will be bringing developments to Imola, we need to make sure that we are at least keeping up with them. Obviously the goal is to make the W13 a car capable of winning the championship".
The engine? That's not the problem
Improvements that must therefore be made to the car to try to catch up, or at least try to get close, to Ferrari. In fact, the Maranello team has made giant strides compared to past seasons, also in the context of the power unit, as Toto Wolff strongly stated:
"I think we have seen a huge leap from Ferrari from last year to this one. The Rossa probably went from being 10hp back to 10hp forward – said the Mercedes team principal – and this is something we have never achieved in the past. But, if it happened, all the credit goes to them”. Coming instead to the Mercedes power unit, Wolff is convinced that the problem of his team is not related to the new fuels: “We have found the improvements we believe can be made on the E10s. The Brixworth team are doing a good job. I think that, at the moment, the performance picture does not give them enough credit for the excellent work they have done“.
Declaration source: FormulaPassion